We slowed down when speaking to our son who had schizophrenia.
We tried to give him space and avoided making him feel trapped.
We tried to remain calm and give him all the support we were able to muster.
We knew that it was a good idea to speak slowly and quietly.
We were advised to use short, clear and simple sentences..
We avoided making sudden movements because if he were startled, he became angry.
We were as helpful as we could possibly be.
We tried to give firm yet clear directions.
We did our best to respond to his hallucinations or delusions by talking about his feelings rather than about what he was saying.
We did our best to let him know that we loved him.
To say or not to say, that was the question.
We knew better than to argue with him when he was psychotic.
We tried not to look him straight in the eye as that would be considered staring, which in turn would make him aggressive.
We tried to get him to interact with us and not confuse him.
If I wanted to hug him, it was advisable to ask first.
It was a bad idea to raise our voices.
We learned not to give him multiple choices.
We knew better than to whisper, joke or laugh in his presence as he would have assumed that we were making fun of him.
We were honest with him at all times, even if it meant imparting bad news.